Legislation

Paws Up for More Just Laws

Make your voice heard! The law is an important tool in the fight to end nonhuman animal experimentation. Urge your legislators to support laws that recognize the interests of nonhuman animals and protect them from human use and exploitation.

Federal Bills

S. 2555, H.R. 5041: The Better CARE for Animals Act of 2023 – This bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act to expand and improve the enforcement capabilities of the Attorney General, enhancing collaboration between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Department of Agriculture and enabling the DOJ to enforce the Animal Welfare Act more effectively.

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H.R. 4757: The Cease Animal Research Grants Oversees (CARGO) Act – This bill would amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the NIH from awarding any support for an activity or program that uses live animals in research unless the research occurs in the U.S.

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S. 778, H.R. 2968: The Cost Openness and Spending Transparency (COST) Act – This bill would require the disclosure of information relating to the cost of programs, projects, or activities carried out using federal funds (including the total cost to taxpayers for every project supported with federal funds).

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H.R. 7248: The Federal Modernization Act 3.0 – This bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish a process for the qualification of nonclinical testing methods to reduce and replace the use of animals in nonclinical research, improve the predictivity of nonclinical testing methods, and reduce development time for a biological product or other drug, and for other purposes.

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H.R. 5399: The Humane Cosmetics Act of 2023 – This ban would substantially restrict the use of animal testing for cosmetics.

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H.R. 1465: Violet’s Law – This bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act to allow for the adoption or non-laboratory placement of dogs, cats, nonhuman primates, guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits) used in federal research.

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S. 2397: The Worldwide Animal Testing Compliance and Harmonization (WATCH) Act – This bill would amend section 495 of the Public Service Act to require inspections of foreign laboratories conducting biomedical and behavioral research to ensure compliance with applicable animal welfare requirements, requiring foreign laboratories to (1) meet the same animal welfare requirements as domestic laboratories to qualify for NIH fund and (2) submit to quarterly site inspections to ensure their continued compliance with animal welfare requirements.

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State Bills

H.B. 1292: Regulation of animal testing – This bill would require the state board of animal health to establish a registry of research facilities that use live animals for research/testing and to track the number of live animals used for research or testing at each research facility. 

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H.B. 495: Prohibition on the sale of cosmetics tested on animals – This bill would amend sections of the state code to prohibit the sale of cosmetics tested on animals except under certain specified circumstances.

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S.B. 761: Licensing and Regulation of Testing Facilities That Use Animals – This bill would require private research facilities to use non-animal methods to assess product safety when such methods are available and equivalent or superior to animal methods.

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S.D. 1424, H.B. 850: Promoting Humane Cosmetics & Other Household Products by Limiting the Use of Animal Testing – This bill would reduce the use of animals in cosmetics and household product testing by requiring manufacturers to use valid alternative (i.e., non-animal) test methods for product, product formulation, chemical, or ingredient testing whenever such alternatives are available.

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S.B. 792: Animals – research facilities – This bill would require that research facilities using animals submit an annual report that includes the total number of animals owned by the facility, the total number of animals used for laboratory research conducted at the research facility, and the total number of animals released by the research facility.

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H. 425: Prohibiting cosmetic testing on animals – This bill would prohibit cosmetic testing on animals with limited exceptions.

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News About Legislation Protecting Animals in Labs

Congress Passes the FDA Modernization Act 2.0

The Rise for Animals Team, December 28, 2022
This Act eliminates a federal mandate, which has been in place since 1938, requiring FDA-approved drugs to have been tested on non-human animals.

The Animal Welfare Act Protects Just 5% of Animals in Labs

The Rise for Animals Team, December 5, 2022
The Animal Welfare Act is supposed to provide protections for animals in laboratories. So why are 95% of animals in labs exempt?

Lawmakers Are Pushing for Protections for Cephalopods

The Rise for Animals Team, October 13, 2022
Sensitive, intelligent cephalopods are increasingly used in research, but do not have any legal protections for humane care. A Congressional group wants to change that.